How long did it take you to find your putting stroke?

[Monocacy]

Assuming you've found it...how long did it take you to find your stock putting stroke. Say you have a wide open look at the basket from 15 feet away...how long did it take you to dial in that stroke? Just curious...

After playing for decades I'm still fiddling with my putt. Probably not what you want to hear.

That said, I used to start my putting practice around 20' and work out from there. 15-footers were never a problem until . . . I missed a few. Then I started to think about them. And thinking while putting is never a good thing.

So I think you have two questions rolled into one:

Q1. How long did it take to find your stock putting stroke?
A1. More than 20 years and I'll let you know if it happens.

Q2. Are you confident hitting a 15-footer?
A2. Yes, as long as I don't think about it.

 

[azplaya25]

Yea, I think the options in the poll are a bit to short in time. I went thru many different putting styles, grips and putters until I settled into what I use now. I still change up what I do slightly every once and a while.

Yeah I'm seeing that now. I assumed I was a slow learner or just don't have the eye hand coordination that others do. The responses in this thread are both refreshing and depressing at the same time lol

 

[oldmandiscer]

30 years, I've been tweaking it over the winters mostly. Probably a blend between Ricky and Eagles as far as style I settled on. More pitch/push then spin though I do have a lot of spin too.

 

[Dingus]

I have been playing 20 years and my C1X putting was at 57% for 2020. Your question is for 15', which isn't that far so I would probably be a lot better not counting the 25-30' putts. But still, 57% is pretty bad. I'm going with I have not yet found my putting stroke and likely never will.

 

[Agricolae]

Like others, I've been tweaking my putting stroke for as long as I've been playing. The upside of changing it up and trying new things has been that, overall, I putt equally well (or poorly!) with several different styles. On a day-to-day basis, one may be working better than the other. On a long-term basis, my overall putting is better now than ever and has improved gradually since I started. Like Monocacy says above, confidence and not overthinking are key.

Most days I'm confident anywhere inside the circle. On good days I'm confident out to 45-50 feet with either staggered or straddle, assuming no wind. (That doesn't mean I make even close to 50% of the long ones, just that I believe I can and I do it often enough to keep the confidence up.)

How long does it take? I don't know; I'm still working on it. There's been a lot of short-term ups-and-downs but steady improvement over the long term.

I see an advantage to practicing and having confidence in more than one style of putting. My go-to is a staggered stance, mostly spin putt. If that is not working, if I miss a couple of easy ones, I will switch to a straddle style. If it's 'one of those days' and the straddle is not working either, I'll alternate hole-by-hole until I find the groove again. I went through a bad case of putting yips shortly after I started playing competitively and found that switching styles like that helped keep the overthinking and yips at bay.

I believe that practicing many styles - turbo putts, flick putts, upside-down putts, scoobers - will lead to overall improvement to which ever is your 'main style' on any given day.

Perfection in putting is a journey ... has *anyone* ever arrived at the destination??? Keep grinding. Enjoy the trip!

 

[TerryTuffskins]

It didn't take long. Only problem is that I keep on losing it.

 

[teemkey]

I started out trying to spin putt from chest height, but kept air balling from 15 feet and having a 20' come backer; so I went youtubbing for advice. Came across a vid by Nikko where he talked about the pitch putt and "painting the pole." I adopted the style.

A couple of years later I went out to a course the day before a tournament for a practice round. I came across Nikko with about 6 other folks (Jessica Weese & others) at the tee of a short par 3. They'd already thrown, but asked if I wanted to play through. I threw a decent shot, about 25' from the basket, and we all walked down the fairway. They told me to go ahead and putt out. I made it, and Nikko said "nice putt."

I just said thanks.

 

[itsRudy]

Really appreciate that response. I'm almost a year in, practice all the time, and still don't have a putting stroke I'm super confident in

As I mentioned in the link below, it took me 4.5 years to find a good putting stroke which is just the last months. Besides what I typed up down there, I did it by getting the confidence in ditching the typically recommended discs (mostly aviars) I stuck out with for way too long. I found a totally different model I liked (probably due to stubby fingers, need something shallow) and also ditching current conventional wisdom of push putt, at least when I started. Doing a hybrid style now that changes depending on distance.

Find a style comfortable for you and go with it. Find a good disc and then buy at least 3 of them, diff colors but identical weight. Practice with all three when you land in the circle on casual rounds - fastest way to get better.

Pure field work is good for drives. But layups and putting needs a course imo. Can't depend on open flat grass on those and more than likely not will be dealing with trees and elevation too.

https://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=138591

 

[Horsman]

Yeah I'm seeing that now. I assumed I was a slow learner or just don't have the eye hand coordination that others do. The responses in this thread are both refreshing and depressing at the same time lol

Nah, ur not a slow learner. It just take time. Im super athletic and have great hand eye coordination and it took me a few years to get my putting down. Patience goes a long way in the sport.

 

[armiller]

I voted 6-12 months only because there's not a longer option. I'd say I did get comfortable with a putting motion (and grip) around 2 years after starting to play a lot. It probably would have come sooner if I had played more competitively at the beginning.

That said, I have not managed to avoid the putting jitters. I've averaged 2 or 3 tournaments per year over the past few years. I almost always manage to miss a 15' putt to start off a tournament.

In my experience, finding the consistent grip is almost the most important thing. For me, that involved settling on beaded putters. I also found that moving my head as little as possible resulted in more consistent results. And of course, generating power with weight shift on the feet is big. Within the confines of those factors, the putting motion kind of just became it's own thing.

 

[Nick Pacific]

The biggest difference maker for me was getting a basket in my backyard. I just kept finding myself after work every day cracking a beer and going out there, throw some jams on and before I knew it an hour flies right by.

Eventually the backyard basket area became a second family room. Because it's just right there, it made daily practice that much easier. I am out there every day after work and sometimes twice a day on weekends.

Prior to that I practice putted maybe 10 or 20 minutes a couple days a week when I went out to play either with friends or leagues. I putted alright but nowhere near as good as I do now.

 

[azplaya25]

I voted 6-12 months only because there's not a longer option. I'd say I did get comfortable with a putting motion (and grip) around 2 years after starting to play a lot. It probably would have come sooner if I had played more competitively at the beginning.

That said, I have not managed to avoid the putting jitters. I've averaged 2 or 3 tournaments per year over the past few years. I almost always manage to miss a 15' putt to start off a tournament.

In my experience, finding the consistent grip is almost the most important thing. For me, that involved settling on beaded putters. I also found that moving my head as little as possible resulted in more consistent results. And of course, generating power with weight shift on the feet is big. Within the confines of those factors, the putting motion kind of just became it's own thing.

Man it's almost like you were at my last tournament lol. I played the dd winter warm up a couple weeks ago and I missed at least 10 putts from inside of 15 feet. Every other part of my game was dialed in so it was super frustrating. I know it's mental cause I practice every night and just bang those same putts. Started off the round by missing a close one then it's like I forgot how to putt


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[`cjc]

It took me about 3 years to figure it out.

Confidence is the #1 component of putting. You can't be a great putter without it.

No more half assed releases. Put some spin on the disc. Aim for the chains, not the basket. Practice making a 12 fter 95% of the time. Then move back three feet. Keep doing this until your confident within the circle.



And finally, find a putter you like and stick with it. Stop trying to find the magic putter


Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

 

[Nick Pacific]

It took me about 3 years to figure it out.

Confidence is the #1 component of putting. You can't be a great putter without it.

No more half assed releases. Put some spin on the disc. Aim for the chains, not the basket. Practice making a 12 fter 95% of the time. Then move back three feet. Keep doing this until your confident within the circle.



And finally, find a putter you like and stick with it. Stop trying to find the magic putter


Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

Competence precedes confidence. When you're actually good at putting and have put in the reps confidence will be like breathing, it will be undeniable. If you haven't put the time in and aren't actually good, your "confidence" will come and go and seem fleeting, and you'll be left wondering that you somehow "lost" your confidence, one day its there the next day its gone. That can be frustrating. If you're finding yourself lacking confidence it's because you're probably just not that good at putting, and the only way to fix that is to actually get better by practicing more.

When you're actually "good" at putting it's as undeniable as 1+1=2, you can dial it up on command. You don't need to be confident either. You're competent and that is everything. You can have feelings of self doubt but that doesn't even matter when you're good you'll just keep smashing putts and that doubt will melt away every single time.

For newer players or anyone trying to get good at putting, don't even worry about confidence. Concentrate on actually getting good at putting and practicing every day. You'll keep getting better the more reps you put in and somehow this whole "confidence" thing will come out of nowhere and it will click without even thinking about it.

 

[jdw80550]

Took me about 4 years to find my stroke, another 2 to get it to be an automatic motion, and another 3 years to figure out I can't think about my putt. I trust my stroke. So now I find my link, then rock and putt. Yes, I still miss some easy ones, but it's way better than if I try to think about it.

I think about putting the way a pitcher does. I know that I can putt, but when I'm putting well, it's because I'm a groove more so than concentrating hard.

 

[ballgolfconvert]

Took me about 4 years to find my stroke, another 2 to get it to be an automatic motion, and another 3 years to figure out I can't think about my putt. I trust my stroke. So now I find my link, then rock and putt. Yes, I still miss some easy ones, but it's way better than if I try to think about it.

I think about putting the way a pitcher does. I know that I can putt, but when I'm putting well, it's because I'm a groove more so than concentrating hard.

The mental / confidence aspect is simply visualizing the putt going in, it's trajectory, speed and path into the pole (chains). if you visualize this properly and you have put in sufficient practice, then your brain makes the body movements automatically.

 

[Superbford]

Having only been playing since last September, I don't even remotely have everything figured out, but one of the more experienced employees at our local disc store told me that if putts don't seem to be going your way on a particular day, then try putting as if you don't really care whether it goes in or not. The weird thing is, depending on given variables, there's kind of some merit to it. Just walk up and throw the damned thing into the chains.

Just going up and throwing the putt at least stops the dreaded overthinking or worrying about making it...

I can see the benefits if you are inconsistent anyway.

 

[raceface59]

Sort of what I meant, Superbford. I'm a past professional darts titleholder. In darts, there actually is no "aim". There's a sort of "gut feeling" that you gain through experience that makes the shot hit home every time you need it to. With new players, there is a huge amount of anxiety when it comes to throwing that dart/disc a seemingly manageable distance into a target that sometimes seems as big as the broad side of a barn, but on other days seems so impossibly small. I'm finding quite a few parallels to darts when it comes to focusing on that one chain link. When we were in front of a board, zoning in on a finishing shot, a bomb could go off and we wouldn't notice. I wonder if seasoned disc players are the same?

 

[txmxer]

Playing almost a year. Been working on putting a lot the last month or so.

Someone mentioned putting from multiple stances—I second this. I find it hard to throw from a straddle more than ~20' max unless I practice it. I had a 40' tunnel shot I bounced of the top limbs and it rolled back to me. Not something I expect to make, but definitely want to layup to the basket.

In my practice I find my accuracy is mostly in the release. So my goal is to make that consistent. I can feel an errant throw in the release. Still struggling with this. It can be really frustrating.

I think I've found that for longer putts—25' plus, if I use a slight anhyzer release I'm more accurate. I know trying to throw neutral/flat is really tough for me.

 

[`cjc]

Competence precedes confidence. When you're actually good at putting and have put in the reps confidence will be like breathing, it will be undeniable. If you haven't put the time in and aren't actually good, your "confidence" will come and go and seem fleeting, and you'll be left wondering that you somehow "lost" your confidence, one day its there the next day its gone. That can be frustrating. If you're finding yourself lacking confidence it's because you're probably just not that good at putting, and the only way to fix that is to actually get better by practicing more.



When you're actually "good" at putting it's as undeniable as 1+1=2, you can dial it up on command. You don't need to be confident either. You're competent and that is everything. You can have feelings of self doubt but that doesn't even matter when you're good you'll just keep smashing putts and that doubt will melt away every single time.



For newer players or anyone trying to get good at putting, don't even worry about confidence. Concentrate on actually getting good at putting and practicing every day. You'll keep getting better the more reps you put in and somehow this whole "confidence" thing will come out of nowhere and it will click without even thinking about it.

I'm an excellent putter. I was just giving you my opinion on how I became great at it.

Honestly, most newer players are afraid of putting. Why, because it's technical and repetitious. That's why newer players struggle with it imo.


Why would a player be confident in putting if they haven't mastered putting? That's overconfidence and quite frankly laziness. Which is the limiting factor in disc golf, laziness.

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk